Syria four years on: What prospect for peace?

Rights and aid groups accuse world leaders of failing the Syrian people after conflict's deadliest year yet.

It started as an uprising with calls for freedom and peaceful street demonstrations.

But four years on, Syria’s revolution has degenerated into a complex and catastrophic conflict, with little prospect for peace.

The UN estimates more than 220,000 people have been killed since 2011, with last year the deadliest yet.

And as the crisis enters its fifth year, a scathing report by humanitarian and rights groups accuses world leaders of “Failing Syria”, adding: "This spiraling catastrophe is a stain on the conscience of the international community".

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has been equally critical, stating: "The Syrian people ... continue to suffer under the eyes of the international community, still divided and incapable of taking collective action to stop the killing and destruction".

So, can international divisions and diplomatic differences be resolved to help bring an end to the carnage, the violence and the suffering?

Presenter: Nick Clark

Guests:

Camilla Jelbart Mosse - Syria crisis campaign manager for Oxfam.

Monzer Akbik - spokesperson for the Syrian National Coalition.

James Denselow - fellow at the Centre for Syrian Studies and research associate at the Foreign Policy Centre think tank.